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Whatmore wants Misbah for World Twenty20

The Pakistan coach wants team\'s Test and ODI skipper to be included in the preliminary list of 30 probables.

Lahore: Pakistan’s coach Dav Whatmore wants senior batsman and team’s Test and one-day captain Misbah-ul-Haq to be included in the preliminary list of 30 probables for the ICC World Twenty20 and has conveyed the message to the selectors.

Well informed PCB sources said that Whatmore had sent a request to the national selection committee to consider Misbah again for the Twenty20 format. "Whatmore has requested the selectors from Sri Lanka to include Misbah's name in the T20 World Cup preliminary squad that has to be sent to the ICC this week," one source said.

The request comes just few weeks after the national selectors dropped Misbah from the national Twenty20 team and also replaced him as captain with Mohammad Hafeez.

Misbah, however, was retained as captain of the one-day and Test sides with Hafeez leading the team in the two T20 matches against Sri Lanka recently.

Meanwhile, another source said that, "the selectors are not keen on having Misbah back in the T20 format and have informed Whatmore about this."

Interestingly, Misbah was said to have reacted strongly when the decision to replace him as captain and drop him from the team was conveyed to him by the selectors and senior board official Intikhab Alam. "Misbah had reacted strongly at the meeting in which he was told about his ouster, insisting that he was being treated unfairly and the selectors should give him one good reason for dropping," one source said.

He said at the meeting Misbah accused the selectors of succumbing to pressure from the public and media which believed he did not fit into the Twenty20 format. "Misbah's content_cnion was that he had accepted charge of the team in all three formats at a tough time and brought the team together and also produced results. So, there was no justification for ousting him from any format," the source said.

Pakistan are due to play a series of three ODIs and 3 T20 matches against Australia next month.